Ukrainian Government approved an EU-supported programme to exchange incandescent light bulbs for LED light bulbs

The Government of Ukraine has approved a programme for the population to replace incandescent light bulbs with light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs. This is stated in the Resolution “On the implementation of an experimental project to create enabling conditions for effective electricity consumption by the population”, which was adopted at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on 10 January, 2023.

The programme is expected to be launched at the end of January, and the mass rollout will be preceded by beta-testing in the Diia application.

This project will be implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Digital Transformation, and Ukrposhta with support from the European Union. It is deployed as an instrument to save energy, increase resilience against the energy crisis and enable reduction of the peak-hour electricity consumption.

This initiative is part of the European Union’s support to Ukraine’s energy front, which also includes the provision of generators and other assistance to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Since Russian attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure started, Ukraine has been experiencing a lack of power generation and distribution capacity.

According Ukrenergo, 40-60% of power is consumed by households. At the same time, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy, Ukrainian households still use significant quantities of incandescent light bulbs that on average consume eight times more electricity than modern LED light bulbs.

According to the Resolution, it is foreseen that every Ukrainian will be able to exchange five incandescent light bulbs for five LED light bulbs. The European Union will fund 30 million LED bulbs.

The exchange of incandescent bulbs for new LED bulbs will take place in Ukrposhta offices, gradually across the country. A test version of the exchange programme will start on 16 January. After that, it will launch across all of Ukraine. The first batch of 15 million bulbs will arrive gradually over next weeks. In order to save more energy, the regional centers and big cities will be first to receive the delivery. By the end of February, light bulbs should reach even the smallest villages.

The exchange mechanism will work as follows:

• The programme is intended for citizens of Ukraine aged 18 or older who are required to have a passport, an identification number, and incandescent light bulbs for exchange.
• An eligible citizen will have to bring 5 incandescent light bulbs to an Ukrposhta office and exchange them for the new energy saving LED ones.
• There will be two ways to exchange bulbs, with and without reservation. If the bulbs are reserved through the Diia application, their delivery to the Ukrposhta outlet will be secured for pickup within five working days after receiving a confirmation message sent to the citizen’s phone number. On a drop-in basis, bulbs will be exchanged upon availability only.
• If unable to reserve bulbs through Diia, one can come with a passport, identification number and the incandescent light bulbs to an Ukrposhta office. If there are LED light bulbs available, they will be exchanged.
• When making a reservation through the Diia application, pickup location will need to be selected and required details filled in.
• After submitting the reservation, an automatic message from the Diia mobile application will be sent regarding when the LED light bulbs can be picked up at the selected Ukrposhta outlet; the light bulbs can be picked up against the reservation number.
• In case the order is not picked up within 5 working days, it will be cancelled.
• Once the light bulbs are exchanged, Ukrposhta will keep a record of the individual passport details to avoid repeated exchanges.
• The exchange will be available exclusively for working incandescent light bulbs.
• If one or more LED bulbs turn out to be faulty, there will be a possibility to replace them at an Ukrposhta branch. Such an exchange can be made one time only.

Background

The Light Bulb Exchange Programme is expected to promote the use of LED light bulbs by the population to reduce electricity consumption and contribute to sustainable and balanced operations of the Ukrainian power grid, notably during the crisis caused by Russian attacks against critical civilian infrastructure.